Marco Rubio to vote against Janet Yellen

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio on Thursday said he will oppose Janet Yellen’s nomination to be the next head of the Federal Reserve, saying her expansive views on monetary policy risk creating asset bubbles.

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“Altogether, she has championed policies that have diminished people’s purchasing power by weakening the dollar, made long-term savings less attractive by diminishing returns on this important behavior and put the U.S. economy at increased risk of higher inflation and another future boom-bust,” Rubio said in a statement.

Yellen, currently Fed vice chairwoman, is expected to easily win approval from the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday and eventually be confirmed by the full Senate to succeed outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Paul has threatened to hold up a final vote until the Senate considers his measure to Audit the Fed, although Democrats believe they have the 60 votes to quickly get over that hurdle.

Yellen is an outspoken advocate of using all the policy tools at the Fed’s disposal to boost growth and reduce the jobless rate.

Some conservatives believe these policies, including $85 billion a month in asset purchases, risk inflation and create bubbles in assets such as stocks and real estate.

But there is no current risk of inflation — indeed most economists see deflation as a bigger threat — and Rubio’s move can be seen more as an effort to win back tea party favor after his unpopular support for sweeping immigration reform, which he has largely abandoned.